


Red wire, Blue wire

by Sasha713



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-19
Updated: 2012-04-19
Packaged: 2017-11-03 22:17:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/386580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sasha713/pseuds/Sasha713
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He never thought claiming Carter could blow up in his face.</p><p>Light drabble (ish) with a hint of fluff for good measure *hides* Needed to write something light after the "Grey Edge of Dawn". This arose...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Red wire, Blue wire

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Samfan13](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Samfan13/gifts).



 

Jack fought the smile he felt edging at the side of his lips as he watched Carter walking a few paces ahead of him. She was currently being regaled by her latest suitor, or –her most recent _would-be_ -suitor if only she would be more accepting of Drast’s unbridled and obviously embarrassing advances.

She was clearly trying to beg off his attention on the stealth, her eyes flicking back to them as the man mentioned –for the seventeenth time (yeah, he may have been counting) – a banquet in which he was choose a wife.

Jack suspected that Carter was trying to make sure they didn’t hear Drast’s words, but, the man really had no sense. She was uncomfortable, and he didn’t have to be a Theoretical Astrophysicist to work that out.

She’d turned an amusing shade of crimson. He would have continued to ignore the ‘moment’ she was having with ‘alien guy number 29’ on her list of broken hearts across the galaxy, but –she seemed to be struggling with this one. Maybe it was the way she kept surreptitiously glanced his way, her eyes almost pleading while at the same time –as contradictory as it was –said ‘God, I hope he can’t hear this’.

At any rate, Jack chose to swoop in for the rescue. He never got to rescue damsels in distress anymore, seeing as Carter had never been in need of that type of chauvinistic assistance before. Besides, the whole rescue thing was normally something Daniel ended up jumping in to volunteer for, and Jack was damned if he didn’t beat the man to it this time.

“You know, _Drab_ …” he began, purposely mispronouncing the man’s name.

“It’s Drast.” Drast replied, unaware of the fact that he had unwittingly become a target. Daniel shot him a warning look, his brow raised over his glasses frames in a decidedly ‘Teal’c’ fashion.

“This _banquet_ you keep rattling on about – are the rest of us poor, hungry souls invited?” he asked calmly. Drast hesitated, glancing once more at Carter’s profile as she stepped ahead of him.

“It’s truly…for honoured guests General O’Neill.” He said nervously, quickening his steps to match Carter’s once more.

“Honoured guests you say? _Really_?” Daniel’s warning look became almost as amusing as Carter’s blush. “Hey, Carter, you feel honoured?” he asked mildly, and she shot him a barely respectable look that stated quite clearly that he should maybe shut up…

But he didn’t miss the glint in her eyes that stated that she was barely supressing her smile as well. Yeah, he liked trying to translate her expressions.

“Not particularly, Sir.” She said, which gained an incredibly disappointed look from Drast.

“I assure you, it is a greatly anticipated event. I myself have been allowed to choose a wife…”

“Well, given Carter’s already married –I don’t think her attendance will be necessary.” Jack responded point blank, and Drast paused for a moment, his mouth opening and closing in surprise.

“She is?” He asked, his voice sounding a little high-pitched to Jack’s ears, which only added to his sources of amusement. Carter’s gaze met his, assessing, and he could almost hear her voice in his head saying ‘I am?’.

Drast, for all his surprised, seemed to compose himself quickly however, his back straightening stubbornly as his aristocratic chin notched up in a definite pose of ‘I get what I want’.

“Well, unless her husband is present, another can attempt a claim.” Drast responded imperially. Oh yeah, Carter had definitely snagged herself a keeper here.

“That would be me.” Jack continued without really considering the consequences his words would have on the situation.

Despite the fact that they all kept walking, there was a sudden tension emanating from the group, and Jack chanced a look at Daniel who wasn’t glaring like he had assumed.

No. The Archaeologist was fighting laughter, barely suppressed under a quirk of his lips, which twitched once before he coughed, burying the chuckle.

As for Carter...

She was firmly keeping her eyes front.

“I…I was unaware.” Drast was spluttering, his eyes widened on Jack, and then looking at Carter before swinging his eyes away as if looking on her now meant certain punishment. Jack fought not to grin at the man’s reaction to the bad news. “I apologise.”

He was walking a little more stiffly now, and Jack knew he had completely taken the wind out of his sails. They approached the village where the talks were taking place, a bounce in his step now he had destroyed Drast’s hopes. It wasn’t like he hated the guy, or blamed him for wanting Carter as his… _Don’t go there, O’Neill_.

They stepped into the meeting hall where Daniel was to introduce him to the High Inquisitor. Daniel stepped past him, murmuring “I knew you’d crack one of these days.”

Jack frowned, glancing at Carter who was stiffly standing by the door with Drast who was looking everywhere but at her now…or at Jack for that matter. The grin attempted to resurface.

“What?” He asked Daniel on a hushed voice.

“Sam…and her admirers.” Daniel continued to say lowly, motioning towards the doorway behind him. “It was only a matter of time before you said something. I think asking her out on a date would have been smarter than a non-consensual marriage claim though.”

“I wasn’t…it wasn’t…” Jack stuttered. Aw, hell… Had it really come across as if…? All he’d been trying to do was save her from the intentions of that…man. Daniel shot him another look that clearly stated he was delusional before he stepped further into the hall to greet the Inquisitor Jack had come all this way to meet.

Damn.

He turned slightly as Carter moved past him, murmuring “I can’t believe you just did that, Sir.”

Rescuing Carter from evil-commitment-guy…apparently not so gallant after all.

“I didn’t think you wanted to go to the singles banquet.” He said, following her, frowning.

“I didn’t.” She responded crisply, defensively. “But I could have handled it.”

He knew that look. Knew that her feministic hackles had been raised with his words, and he was suddenly feeling as big as a cockroach. She was looking at him like she had looked at Maybourne at the mention of his wives. Plural.

He should have learnt by now that helping only ended up getting him into trouble. Not that he should feel chided. He was a General for crying out loud!

That thought made him stand up a little straighter in indignation that she had just made him feel like a green captain again before marching forward ahead of her to greet the people they would be trading with.

After the meetings, and a pleasant afternoon with food and casual negotiations that Jack wished every world would undertake, they were saying their goodbyes, the mention of the Banquet forgotten, carefully avoided in conversation.

They were about to leave the meeting hall to head back to the gate after one final farewell before leaving the rest of the semantics up to SG-9, when the Inquisitor shook Jack’s hand firmly, not releasing it straight away, glancing at Carter who was talking to another member of the planets councillors.

“Where did you find such a fine woman to call your own, General O’Neill?” He asked and Jack was momentarily stunned before he saw Drast watching the exchange with way too much interest.

“Oh…right! Carter…I found her…uh…on Earth.” He stuttered, finding it hard to re-engage after the Inquisitors words, trying valiantly to ignore the flash of longing he felt at the very idea of Carter being ‘a woman to call his own’. If he could ever be so lucky.

“Do you have other wives like her? You must be very rich indeed to have such a fine woman under your control.”

Carter by now had caught wind of the conversation, her eyes narrowed as she stepped up beside him, daring him to speak. She seemed only to be barely suppressing her thoughts on the matter. He withdrew his hand and tapped his fingers on the butt of his P-90 with a slight cough.

“Actually, on our planet, we’re only allowed to have _one_ wife.” He said awkwardly, trying to do damage control.

“How very unfortunate. You have chosen well however.” The Inquisitor continued, giving Carter an appraising look. “Non-the-less, O’Neill, would you by chance give her up for a price? Perhaps we could work out…”

“Oh…I don’t think so. I’m quite fond of…her. She’s _priceless_ to me.” He said, glad for the fact that these people didn’t know the meaning of sarcasm. Not that he had been completely sarcastica t the priceless thing…

He struggled with his thoughts, before thinking of something to dissuade Carter’s newest high-ranking admirer. “Hey, besides, she’s a _terrible_ cook!”

These people seemed to hold food in high regard, and Jack was relieved when the man looked at him affronted at that little chestnut of information about Carter and her culinary prowess.

The walk back to the gate was made in silence, Carter once more in front of him with Daniel this time, and he watched her for any reactions or any grudges she might hold against him, not that she could really act on them seeing as he was her boss. Although, she was quite resourceful and a genius to boot, so if she wanted vengeance, he had no doubt she could concoct some brilliant plan to exact it without even revealing she was behind it.

She dialled the gate, all of them walking up the steps, but when Daniel stepped through with Teal’c, she hung back, turning to him in front of the event horizon, her eyes burning into him.

“Priceless? I’m _priceless_?” she asked, a slight vulnerability suddenly in her eyes, a softness he felt jab him in the chest.

“Yeah Carter. Priceless.” He replied with a slight smirk. She smiled slightly before turning back to the gate, and all his tension left him in a swoop.

“And I’m not a terrible cook.” She said indignantly, but now he could hear the amusement in her voice and his smirk turned into a bewildered grin. “Maybe I’ll show you some time, Sir.”

And she stepped through, leaving him to consider her words. He hesitated, trying to unravel what exactly she had just meant. Had she just… offered to cook for him?

As in…a date?

Nooo…. She wouldn’t…

 _Crap_.

Deciphering Carter was like trying to defuse a bomb. Calm if you got it right, but damn well explosive if you got it wrong. He followed her through, wondering if he would ever work out which of her wires was the red one and which was the blue...

.fin.


End file.
